Monday, December 17, 2012

Agustin Tristan won the Men's Open division at the New Jersey Open in Warren, N.J. Sunday by defeating Mauricio Zelada, 15-7, 15-13. In the semi-finals, Tristan beat Alex Winter, 15-7, 15-2, and Zelada defeated Jason Sylvester, 15-12, 15-14.

Tristan also won the Men's Open Doubles division by teaming up with Nick Montalbano. They beat Andy Hawthorne and Aimee Ruiz in the final, 15-9, 15-14. In the semis, Tristan and Montalbano beat John Behm and Sean Klingaman, 15-8, 15-6, while Hawthorne and Ruiz defeated Zelada and Roland Keller, 15-7, 15-13.

Maria Jose Vargas was also a double winner in New Jersey, as she won Women's Open singles with a final victory over Ruiz, 15-10, 15-0, and Women's Open doubles with Masiel Rivera when they beat sisters Elizabeth and Kaitlyn Simmons, 15-6, 15-2.

Rojas Injury

Jose Rojas confirmed that he was injured during his New Jersey Open quarter final match with Nick Montalbano. He was noticeably limping during game five of that match. During the IRT Network webcast of the Montalbano-Alvaro Beltran semi-final match, Rojas said he landed on his left knee in game two and again in game four. Rojas didn't think it was anything serious, and wasn't expecting that he would have to miss any tournaments.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Rocky Carson defeated Alvaro Beltran, 11-7, 11-3, 5-11, 9-11, 11-8, to win New Jersey Open in Warren, N.J. Saturday night in a match that lasted over two and half hours. It's the fourth main event of the 2012-13 International Racquetball Tour (IRT) season.

After the first two games went Carson's way, Beltran fought back in game three by going out to a 5-0 lead and maintaining that to win 11-5. Beltran used lob serves down the right wall exclusively while Carson primarily hit his drive Z serve to the left side.

Game four was "a battle" Carson said after it was all over, as he and Beltran went back and forth and were tied six times in the game. It looked like Carson might finish the match off when he led 9-7, but Beltran held him there and won the last four points to force the tie-breaker.

The tie-breaker was a see-saw game with few side outs. Beltran went up 3-1 only to see Carson respond and make it 7-3. Then Beltran ran five points to lead 8-7.

A couple of side-outs and then Carson ran four straight points to take the match on his first match point opportunity. He got that opportunity after hitting a drive jam serve on the right side that put Beltran off balance. Carson used that serve a few times in five to good effect.

Carson said he "knew what to do" going into game five, and that it felt "really good to finish this one off," especially as he believes Beltran's "playing as well as he's ever played."

The next IRT event will be the California Open January 3-6, 2013. The New Jersey Open action can be viewed in the IRT Network archive.

Alvaro Beltran ended Nick Montalbano's Cinderella-like run at the International Racquetball Tour's (IRT's) New Jersey Open in Warren, N.J. in the semi-finals on Saturday in three straight games, 11-8, 11-2, 11-4. It was Montalbano's first semi-final appearance in an IRT Tier 1 event.

Montalbano held his own in game one as they went back and forth. Montalbano did get a lead at 7-6, but Beltran took it back and held Montalbano pointless until it was 10-7. Montalbano got one more point before the Beltran finished it at 11-8.

The fight seemed to out of the young American in game two, as Beltran went out to a 7-0 lead and won it easily at 11-2.

But Montalbano got some fight back in game three, and even led 3-2. But again Beltran put the pressure on and held his opponent at bay going on to another comfortable win, 11-4.

In the second semi-final, top seed Rocky Carson defeated fourth seed Chris Crowther in four games, 11-3, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4. Carson generally controlled the match, although credit to Crowther for pulling out game two after being down 9-6. However, game two was the only one Crowther ever had a lead in.

Crowther might have done better if his first serve percentage was higher. His drive serve seemed to be short more often than not on first serve, and drive serving is a big aspect of Crowther's game style.

So, it will be the #1 seed Carson versus the #2 seed Beltran in the New Jersey Open final on Saturday evening at 7 PM, and it can be seen live on-line at the IRT Network.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Nick Montalbano's dream ride through the draw of the International Racquetball Tour's (IRT's) New Jersey Open in Warren, N.J. continues, as he upset 3rd seed Jose Rojas in the quarter finals Friday evening, winning 12-10, 10-12, 2-11, 11-9, 11-9. He'll play his first IRT Tier 1 semi-final ever on Saturday.

The match was close all the way, although after Rojas pulled out game two, he rolled through game three and then had a 5-0 lead in game four and it looked ilke Montalbano was done.

But clearly Montalbano had other ideas, as he came back to tie Rojas at 5-5. They went back and forth until 9-9 at which point Montalbano got the last two points to force a fifth game.

Montalbano took an early lead in the fifth at 4-2, but the young veteran Rojas came back and took the lead 8-5 and looked to be on his way to preventing the upset. However, around that time Rojas seemed to injure his left leg somehow, and was noticeably favouring it.

But the injury didn't stop Rojas. Indeed, he regained the serve at 8-6 with a flat backhand pinch shot and scored his 9th point in the same way on the next rally.

Montalbano chose that time - Rojas serving 9-6 - to take his timeout, and when play resumed he got the serve back after a Rojas skipped a shot.

Montalbano took the next five points to win the match. Rojas tried to stop the momentum at 9-9 with a timeout of his own, but Montalbano's next serve was a drive to the left side that jumped out of the left corner at Rojas making it unreturnable.

Montalbano will play Alvaro Beltran in the semi-finals on Saturday, as Beltran defeated Tony Carson in three games, 11-3, 12-10, 11-9.

Carson had a lead in game two and did tie the game at 10-10, but he couldn't finish off the game. In game three, Beltran took a lead at 6-2, but Carson came back and tied it at 6-6.

However, again Carson couldn't finish off the game. He was close and had chances, and even took a 9-8 lead. But Beltran sharpened up his play and finished the game and match.

On the other side of the draw, top seed Rocky Carson (no relation to Tony) had a comfortable victory over Alex Ackermann, winning in three straight games, 11-2, 11-4, 11-4.

Fourth seed Chris Crowther defeated Jansen Allen, 11-3, 11-4, 7-11, 11-4, in the last quarter final of the day. Crowther had it all his way in games one and two using his big drive serve, but late in game two Allen called a time out at 9-1.

He came back in and scored a few points to give him some momentum that he carried over into game four. Allen switched to hitting a half lob serve to the left - Crowther's backhand and it got him into rallies and allowed him to get into the match.

In game four, Crowther took the momentum back, going out to a 5-0 lead and holding that advantage through to an 11-4 victory. Crowther will play Rocky Carson in Saturday's semi-finals.

The semi-finals begin at 11 AM on Saturday with the final to follow Saturday night at 7 PM. Matches can be viewed on-line at the IRT Network.

Things were likely to be interesting at the International Racquetball Tour's (IRT's) New Jersey Open in Warren, N.J. with all the players missing from the draw, and it's got even more interesting with three upsets in the Round of 16.

Nick Montalbano caused the biggest upset as he defeated 6th seed Shane Vanderson, 11-5, 12-10, 11-8, to reach the quarter finals for the first time in his career.

In the 8/9 match, 9th seed Alex Ackermann came out on top after five games, as he defeated 8th seed Andy Hawthorne, 9-11, 12-10, 10-12, 11-4, 11-5, to reach the quarter finals for only the second time in his career. He'll face top seed Rocky Carson, who defeated Augustin Tristan, 11-3, 11-2, 11-2.

Finally, Jansen Allen defeated Brad Schopieray, 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-3. Like Montalbano, Allen's also in his first career quarter final, which will be against Chris Crowther, who defeated Roberto Santander, 11-5, 11-0, 11-9, in the 16s.

The quarter finals kick off at 4 PM EST Friday with the semi-finals to go at 11 AM and noon on Saturday and final Saturday night at 7 PM. Matches can be viewed on-line at the IRT Network.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Qualifying is over at the New Jersey Open in Warren, New Jersey - the fourth main event of the 2012-13 International Racquetball Tour (IRT) season. Two players made it through both qualifying rounds to reach the main draw of 16 on Friday.

Roberto Santander blanked Eli Mireles, 11-0, 11-0, 11-0, in his first match on Thursday before defeating Andrew Gale, 11-3, 10-12, 11-9, 11-9. Santander will play Chris Crowther in the 16s on Friday.

Also in the 16s after winning twice Thursday is Luis Reveron, although his second match was a default win against Francisco Troncoso. Reveron beat Alec Wasilonsky, 11-0, 11-1, 11-2, in the first qualifying round. Reveron will play 2nd seed Alvaro Beltran on Friday.

The main draw of 16 will begin Friday at 10 AM EST with the quarter finals later on Friday afternoon and evening. Both the semi-finals and final will be on Saturday. Matches can be viewed on-line at the IRT Network.

The New Jersey Open begins later today in Warren, New Jersey. It's the fourth main event of the 2012-13 International Racquetball Tour (IRT) season. It's the first IRT Tier 1 event in New Jersey in over a decade.

There are three notable absences in the draw for this weekend. The most significant of which is IRT #1 Kane Waselenchuk, who is out due to a knee injury. Hopefully, the time off will mean that he can be back at full capacity in the new year.

Also missing are #6 Ben Croft, who is getting married this weekend, and #11 Charlie Pratt, who has an ankle injury.

Thus, there are some opportunities for other players to win an event. But you'd have to think that the top half of the draw will see Rocky Carson and Chris Crowther in the semi-finals.

The bottom of the draw seems more interesting, as the potential quarter finals of Jose Rojas versus Shane Vanderson and Alvaro Beltran versus Tony Carson both could be very good. Rojas hasn't been at the top of his game so far this season, while Vanderson has had good performances, as have Carson and Beltran. But it's not uncommon for Beltran to have a sub-par performance, which could give Tony Carson the opportunity he needs.

Brad Schopieray has his first placing in the top 8 due to the absent players, and he will likely face Jansen Allen in the Round of 16 in what could also be a very competitive match.

The most interesting match of qualifying could be former #1 Cliff Swain against Agustin Tristan with the winner to play Rocky Carson in the 16s. There's no play in prior to this match so both Swain and Tristan will be fresh, which could be most advantageous to the veteran Swain.

Preliminary play begins Thursday December 13 in Warren, New Jersey with the main draw of 16 set to go on Friday at 10 AM EST. Note: the final will be Saturday evening at 7 PM EST. Matches can be viewed on-line via the IRT Network.

Only one change in the latest top 10 International Racquetball Tour (IRT) rankings, as veteran Javier Moreno is up to 10th pushing Charlie Pratt down to 11th.

Kane Waselenchuk remains #1, although word is that he will miss this weekend's New Jersey Open due to a nagging knee injury. That could open the door for a win by one of the other top five players: #2 Rocky Carson, #3 Alvaro Beltran, #4 Jose Rojas or #4 Chris Crowther.

Ben Croft is in 6th, but he's only one ranking point ahead of Shane Vanderson, as Croft has not done well on tour - despite winning a Tier 4 event on the weekend - while Vanderson has done well so far this season.

On the other hand, #8 Tony Carson has a comfortable 357 point advantage over #9 Andy Hawthorne.

There was only a slight reshuffling in the 11-20 spots and Alex Ackermann has made it into the top 20 by landing at #20.

The IRT's New Jersey Open begins tomorrow - December 13, and runs through the weekend at The Racquet Club in Warren, New Jersey. The IRT Network will be webcasting from the event all weekend.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Paola Longoria, the #1 women's racquetball player in the world, is unbeaten since May 2011. But how many consecutive matches has she won?

This was discussed during the webcasts of the Christmas Classic on the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) on the weekend (via the LPRT Network), and The Racquetball Blog staff have gone back to look at our records to see what's happened since May of last year.

There have been 13 Tier 1 or Grand Slam events over this period. Longoria played four matches in each of those events except for the two US Opens, where she played five matches each. Thus, she's won 54 matches in a row [(11 * 4) + (2 * 5)].

However, there were also two satellite events last season: one in Cincinnati and one in Fullerton, California. Longoria played in both, although she only played three matches in Cincinnati; she played four in Fullerton. But are we counting satellite events in the streak, because the full compliment of players isn't always at such events? (although the fields in both of last year's satellite events were stronger than in some of the satellite events from previous seasons).

If we are counting satellites, then Longoria's winning streak is at 61 matches in a row (54 + 7), as we reported on Sunday after Longoria won the Christmas Classic in Arlington, Virginia.

International Competition

But during this period Longoria has also competed in three major international competitions: the 2011 Pan American Games, the 2012 Pan American Championships and the 2012 International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships.

Longoria won six matches at the Pan Am Games - two in pool play and then four in an elimination round, six at the Pan American Championships - two in pool play and four in elimination rounds, and five at the World Championships. Thus, we could add 17 match wins to the 61 Longoria's had on the pro tour. That would put her winning streak at 78 matches.

In two of those competitions - the Pan Am Games and Worlds - there was a team competition as well. Longoria played twice in the Pan Am Games team competition and four times in the team competition at Worlds, winning all of those matches. Add those six to 78 and you get 84.

How many wins in a row?

So, Longoria's won 54 or 61 or 78 or 84 matches in a row depending on what you want to include in the streak.

Of course this only counts singles wins and Longoria's got several doubles wins (all with Samantha Salas) during this period as well.

Other aspects of the LPRT streak

Longoria's most frequent opponent during this period has been Rhonda Rajsich, who she's played in 12 of the 13 Tier 1/Grand Slam events (and 1 of the 2 satellite events).

But Longoria's second most frequent opponent may surprise you, because it's Grace Hughes, who's played Longoria five times. Krystal Csuk, Samantha Salas and Jennifer Saunders have each played Longoria four times since May 2011 (Csuk's played five times, if we're including the satellite events).

Only Rajsich, Saunders and Maria Jose Vargas have won even one game against Longoria during this period. Yes, in Longoria's 54 victories she's won 162 games and lost only 8 (six to Rajsich, one each to Saunders and Vargas). That's a 95.3 winning percentage.

Rajsich, Saunders and Vargas are three of the five players to score the most points (on average) against Longoria. Rajsich is averaging 24.8 points a match (12 matches), Saunders and Vargas 17.5 each (in 4 and 2 matches, respectively). Also, Jessica Parrilla and Sheryl Lotts got 22 and 18 points against Longoria, but each of them have only played Longoria once in this period.

Sarah Warhaftig has the dubious distinction of getting the most doughnuts from Longoria. She's received three of the fourteen doughnuts Longoria's served up during the streak. Other multiple doughnut recipients are Csuk, Hughes, and Mariana Tobon (2 each).

Perhaps curiously Kerri Wachtel has only played Longoria once during this period and that was in the final of the Cincinnati satellite tournament last January, when Longoria won in three straight games with Wachtel scoring 16 total points.

Longest ever?

The records of women's pro racquetball are incomplete, so we're not sure if Longoria's match streak is the longest ever. But in our records, we've got Michelle Gould winning 16 events in a row from 1994 to 1997. Thus, Longoria's 13 tournament winning streak isn't the longest in women's pro racquetball history.

But Longoria's streak is the second longest (according to our records). Lynn Adams and Jackie Paraiso also had double digit winning streaks - both with 10 in a row. Cheryl Gudinas won 8 in a row in 2002-2003 and Rajsich 6 in 2008.

Other women with multiple tournament winning streaks are Christie Huczek (nee Van Hees) with 5, Shannon Wright 5, and Peggy Steding and Caryn McKinney with 4 each. Interestingly, Heather McKay, who some might argue was the best women's player of all time, only ever won three tournaments in a row, which speaks to the quality of her opponents as she was often battling with Wright and especially Adams.

When will it end?

We don't advise betting against Longoria for the near future. We don't know if Vegas will even give you odds on beating her; ok, they probably will, but we're not suggesting you take them.

Longoria's only 23, so time is clearly on her side. But there are players coming up who could challenge her, including Vargas and Parrilla.

We still think Rajsich could defeat Longoria. Twice during the streak Rajsich has been up 2-0 against her, but both times Longoria came back to win.

Longoria is human, so she can be beaten. But she's a human who's very, very good at racquetball, so it will take something special to do it.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Paola Longoria has won her 61st match in a row, as she won the Ladies Pro Racquetball Tour's (LPRT's) 2012 Christmas Classic in Arlington, Virginia Sunday defeating Rhonda Rajsich in the final, 11-9, 11-5, 11-4. Longoria's won 15 women's pro tournaments in a row dating back to May 2011.

Rajsich began the match well, and had a lead in game one at 5-3, as she hit five aces off drive serves early in that game. Longoria fought back, winning the next six points to take a 9-5 lead.

Rajsich then dug in herself and closed the difference to one, trailing 10-9. She held off Longoria for several game points, but couldn't get a 10th herself, and eventually succumbed to Longoria.

In both games two and three, they were tied early at 3-3, but Longoria made more shots and few errors from there in each. She generally drove serve, and usually to the left but mixed in drive serves to the right and drive Zs to the right along with a few lobs.

Rajsich also used a variety of serves: drives to the left and right as well as back hand half lobs and lobs Zs to the left.

The next LPRT event is the Wilson Tour for Hope in Cincinnati, Ohio January 25-27, 2013. To view matches from Arlington as well as pervious LPRT events go to the LPRT Network.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

The Ladies Pro Racquetball Tour's (LPRT's) top two players will face off once again as #1 Paola Longoria will play #2 Rhonda Rajsich in the final of the at 2012 Christmas Classic in Arlington, Virginia on Sunday. Each player won her respective semi-final in three straight games on Saturday.

Longoria and Acosta were close at the beginning of each of their games, but Longoria took control in each game and didn't let Acosta threaten her at all.

Rajsich benefitted from Gudinas's tough matches in the quarters and 16s, which both went five games, including a two and half hour battle with Maria Jose Vargas that ended only a few hours before she faced Rajsich. Thus, it was a match between a player who'd played ten tough games in the last 24 hours and one who'd played six not so tough games. Clearly, one player had the advantage.

Also, Gudinas initially seemed to be favouring her left leg. Perhaps it was a reoccurrence of her left knee trouble that led to her having surgery last fall. That might have resulted in her guessing on some of Rajsich's drive serves, making anticipatory moves to the left only to see the ball driven to the right.

LPRT Awards

The LPRT gave out its awards for the 2011-12 season, which technically wasn't a LPRT season; it was a Women's Professional Racquetball Organization (WPRO) season. But nevertheless the same players were involved, and on Saturday a few of them were honoured.

Paola Longoria was selected as the Athlete of the Year, as she went throughout the season undefeated.

Krystal Csuk was named Most Improved Player, as she rose to finish 4th in the season ending rankings, which was a personal best up from 10th the season before in only her second year as a top 10 player.

The Rookie of the Year Award went to Grace Hughes, and the Janet Myers Sportsmanship Award was given to Laura Brandt.

The Christmas Classic final will be at noon EST on Sunday, and live streamed from Arlington via the LPRT Network.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Seven of the top eight seeds have made it to the quarter finals of the Ladies Pro Racquetball Tour (LPRT) 2012 Christmas Classic in Arlington, Virginia. But 3rd seed Krystal Csuk fell to 14th seed Maria Jose Vargas, 11-3, 12-10, 11-3, in the Round of 16.

Vargas, the current U18 World Champion, will face Cheryl Gudinas in the quarters, as Gudinas won a five game match against Grace Hughes, "(11), 5, 11, 8, 1" [sic].

Both top seeds won their Friday matches in three straight games. Number 1 seed Paola Longoria only gave up three points to 17th seed Marian Tobon, 11-3, 11-0, 11-0, while 2nd seed Rhonda Rajsich had a closer match with Sheryl Lotts, winning 12-10, 11-8, 11-6.

The first two matches were three straight game wins for the 4th and 5th seeds, Adrienne Fisher and Susana Acosta, respectively. Fisher beat Masiel Rivera, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5, while Acosta took out Laura Brandt, 11-6, 11-4, 11-5. Fisher and Acosta will face off in the quarter finals Saturday morning.

The quarter finals and semi-finals will go on Saturday and final on Sunday, and there will be live streaming from Arlington via the LPRT Network.

The Round of 16 has begun at the Ladies Pro Racquetball Tour (LPRT) 2012 Christmas Classic in Arlington, Virginia. The first two matches were three straight game wins for the 4th and 5th seeds, Adrienne Fisher and Susana Acosta, respectively.

There were two minor upsets in the first round. Rivera caused one of them as she defeated Hailey Miller, 11-4, 11-4, 11-5. The other was the 16/17 game that was an all Venezuela battle between 17th seed Marian Tobon and 16th seed Ishley Paede Guillen that went Tobon's way, 11-5, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9.

Play continues Friday evening with the Round of 16 matches. The quarter finals and semi-finals will go on Saturday and final on Sunday. There will be live streaming from Seattle via the LPRT Network on Saturday and Sunday.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

The Ladies Pro Racquetball Tour (LPRT) is back in action this weekend with the 2012 Christmas Classic in Arlington, Virginia. A couple of the top 10 players are missing. LPRT #4 Kerri Wachtel and #8 Jennifer Saunders are not in Virginia, so the other players move up in seeding and Adrienne Fisher is the 4th seed.

Paola Longoria, the LPRT's top player, will again be looking to extend her winning streak, but she may have to go through her doubles team-mate Samantha Salas Solis in the quarter finals - although Salas Solis needs to defeat 9th seed T. J. Baumbaugh in the 16s to create that match up.

Other interesting matches to look for include 3rd seed Krystal Csuk versus Maria Jose Vargas, who won gold in U18 at last month's World Junior Championships, with the winner of that to face veteran Cheryl Gudinas. Also, Cristina Amaya versus Da'monique Davis will face off in the 16s.

Play begins on Friday morning with the Round of 32 matches. The Round of 16 matches will be Friday afternoon and evening, then the quarter finals and semi-finals will go on Saturday and final on Sunday. There will be live streaming from Seattle via the LPRT Network.